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Horizons noob review
latonx
Member Posts: 10
I finally got into the game after a lot of mucking about, and started a char on Unity, the EU shard.
This is my first impression of the game.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Performance:
Load time: 1 minute 30 seconds. For what? There was barely anything on screen, no moving objects, only low detail landscape.
16.5 FPS, using Fraps, before I moved, touched any options, even got out of the starting valley part. In New Brommel, same or worse. There were no moving objects on screen, only 6 static NPCs (one not visible, vault), no players, and very little other detail, yet I was only getting 15-16 FPS, very poor. I altered some settings, including view distance, detail level, and got up to 22 FPS, but still very low. Outside of town I got up to 31 FPS, much better.
Graphics: surprising bad. I only saw the starter valley and some of New Brommel and Kion but sheesh, first impressions count in getting players interested in the game. The graphics are so basic and bland I could not believe it. Very little variation or detail in the textures of stone, grass, although the character graphics were ok. The games looks like an early version of beta.
Tutorial: extremely basic, I learned almost nothing. I found myself standing in New Brom with NO clue what to do, or where to go, and saw only 3 other players there, and only briefly. Now I dont want my hand held like WoWs kiddy guide, but something a bit more substantial would be helpful.
Content: Whenever I start a new game I try to pick up some quests, talk to the local NPCs to get a feel for the game and get started. I picked a scout, clicked on task to get what I assumed would be a quest and got told I am too low. What? Too low? None of the other class trainers would offer me a task either, without joining, but I wanted to stay as scout. Did not want to be an outfitter/blacksmith at this point either.
So I run around New Brommel looking for NPCs and quests to do. I get Trials of the Gifted, and thats it. Nothing. No quests at all, nothing. Of the 6 Town NPCs only 1 offered a quest. I spoke to the guard outside of town, he said something about helping me with training and the word training was linked so I think, great, some kind of starter quest. Nope, just some useless chat.
I wander around town a bit and see a sign the points to monsters, I decided to take a look. Monsters? Those little pig things, grulets, and maggots. Crud. So I did some fighting, usual, hit attack key, stand back and watch. Did this for a while, til I levelled, got a new ability, power shot, started using it and carried on up to level 5 then went back to town. Still too low to get scout quests.
Loot: not much to report, just some crappy vendor stuff. I was hoping to get a new weapon drop, or armor piece but no, nothing.
So I do some research, it seems Kion and Lesser Aradoth might be a better place to fight, so I went to the portal and go there. Spoke to some NPCs but only got one quest, to collect gruok tusks. Looked on consigner to buy some armor, but no bronze ringmail, and everything is priced at one silver or more. I only had 300 copper.
So I decided to go out a kill some of these gruoks for the tusks. Ran north of Kion for a fair way, past some cedar trees, no mobs, gruoks, nothing. Then I see a level 6 Saris skele, a mage, so I decide to fight it, after all its only 1 level higher than me. I barely scratched it, and got wiped real quick.
At that point I gave up.
So far Im not impressed. When I first played Everquest in August 2001 there was more to do at levels 1-10 than just kill 2 types of mob over and over. Its like playing an early version of beta where you test the client and expect the content to be added much later.
Gonna take a break and come back in a couple of hours. But that tells a tale in it self. Almost every new game I play keeps me glued to the screen for the first few hours, and I have to drag myself away. Ill try again later, hopefully it gets more interesting as you get to higher levels.
Comments
Thanks for your honest review. That pretty much sums up Horizons.Be prepared for the wrath of the fanboi. I wish you well.
Might want to try creating a character on one of the NA shards. And don't forget to set up a new chat tab for Marketplace. It's a good place to get answers, tips, help while in-game.
First off, what system do you have? I have a gig of ram, radeon x800 pro card and a middle of the road athlon processor and my graphics are sweet. Check my screenshots in the "Screens of a world I find Phreaktastic!" thread in this here forum. Do your graphics look like that? Better or worse?
Also theres a few quests in Kion, and also Sslanis is good. You really have to tweak the settings on this game, as it has enough sliders to bog down a system with 3 gigs of ram and the best card and processor with the detail in textures. Make sure the camera for 3rd person is set all the way to tight, this gets rid of lots of lag. Tons of settings to play with, once you do it changes the game a lot. Set the view distance to about 40% unless you have those fabled 3 gigs of ram.
At first Horizons is a little rough around the edges, but as you get your settings just right (this can take a while admittedly) and get into the crafting and multi classing, and see some of the exotic locales the game is a breath of fresh air.
Be sure to press the + sign on your chat window and make a tab with only "market" channel, and also one with only "general". Ask questions in there, people are super helpful like you won't believe.
Also, are you from Europe? I have heard bad stuff about Unity and their support there, unless you had big problems on Chaos or Order I would play there.
I think your review is pretty rough on the game.
So far, I find my contact with the game been pretty much "hardcore". I feel lost most of the time in the game. (I dunno if I am doing the right stuff) Considering I will gladly tell most uberguilds they are bunch of noobs and casuals players, I think it must have been a major reason why Horizons is experiencing troubles to get new players in the game.
Graphics: The game graphics are nice, much nicer then WoW, yet not quite close to EQ2 or CoH...it is quite acceptable.
1 of the big flaw of the game is that if you dont know what you are doing, you are going to waste a LOT of time. Finding the right spots to hunt in EQ was a lazy activity compare to this game. In EQ it was much easier to find what you need to do. In CoH you are spoon feeded toward you next goal(which is nice IMO, since we are playing and not working).
The game reward folks who hunt weakers mobs. This is a little unsavory, but well, it is not that bad, you can always hunt harder stuff, for lesser reward (1 time 200 XP is less then 3 X 120 XP).
At this rate Horizons will prolly "qualify" for me to put it on my "best MMO experiences", after CoH and EQ. Considering WoW, EQ2 and DAoC fail to even make the list, I would say Horizons is definitely a nice game, I dont let any game on my preferred lists. I need to play it more however before I pass a defenitive judgment on the game.
The community is helpful, it is a similar community to the old EQ, it is far from perfect, but could be a much worser community.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I have an Athlon XP-A 2166 MHZ, 1 gig ram; PC2700 DDR, ATI Radeon 9600; 128 mb, Audigy sound card.
Graphics seem empty somehow, maybe it's just the starter island.
Music's great, in NB, shame it stops when you leave town.
I would have liked some more info at the start of the game. I always research games anyway, and I get fed up with noobs shouting in general chat; "where is X mob" "where do I find the X trainer". Simple things that don't take a lot of effort to find out, just proves how lazy they are, but HZ gives almost no info.
I read some bad press about it, so avoided it, but kept looking. I read that much has been added for the new player, which is important, but I think more needs to be done, to pull in and keep new players. Game won't grow without it, and when the money runs out, or the investers finally stop waiting...
A more detailed tutorial and storyline that leads you through the starter island and early game into the next parts of the world is needed I think.
Screw you Anarchyart. Why dont you stop the name calling and attacking of other posters and stick to commentary of the games. You are more a troll than I could ever be.
HEHE
You come here solely to post negatively about this game, right? That's the definition of a troll, homey. It ain't name calling, it's what you do.
And no, I won't ever be a troll. Even my most hated game, Lineage 2, which killed a part of my love for games, I commented once in the Lineage 2 section about and moved on. Trolls don't do that. They lurk under the bridge waiting for any post about the game and pounce, adding their negative rhetoric ad nauseam, ad infinitum.
Much in agreement bro. More needs to be done, but a shiny new biped tutorial is in the works and about to be added. Also, the Dragon race has a wicked tutorial, try it soon!
Did you check my screenshots? Love to hear your objective comments in comparison with what you're getting out of your system. Very decent system btw, one of these nights I will make a comprehensive settings post to help with just such problems, once I get bored that is. It's really all about the settings.
Whoa there. ATI card? I'd had problems with my ATI card and client performance. It used to be one of the biggest technical issues with the game. To improve performance with your ATI card, you might want to try using the Omega drivers, if you haven't tried them already.
I don't know if they've overcome that particular issue, as I've since moved to a new system with an nVidia GPU. I average between 30 - 50 FPS in the wilderness.
I have to agree with anarchyart! You others are just being trolls. Horizons is a great game with great people. The visuals are beautiful, the music is outstanding and the community is the best.
I might as well go all out on my first post. STOP Attacking Mr Bowman Horizons would exists without him. Sure the game had some early problems, but what game doesnt. The horizons we have now is nothing like the horizons at release.
I play 4 MMOs currently EQ2, WoW, SWG, Horizons and they each have something special that keeps my interest.
Now, now everyone...
The original post raised a couple of legitimate issues. The biped tutorial is being revamped. The starting islands do need more quests and (I think) a little more structure for new players.
That said, whatever issues the game itself has will be made worse by being on Unity. Unity does not have proper support and GN has so far done a horrible job of running the server.
My advice would be to create a new character on a NA server and try again.
Guildleader, Mithril Council, Chaos
Is is possible to play on NA from EU. I suspect I can with the trial but what about after? Haven't tried.
There is 1 problem though, time difference.
6-7pm for EU is 12-1pm in New York, earlier elsewhere. You might having trouble findng a group.
There is 1 problem though, time difference.
6-7pm for EU is 12-1pm in New York, earlier elsewhere. You might having trouble findng a group.
Hmm.
Think I will still try though.
I can understand your unfavorable impression, though i think you would have fared better as far as quests go if you had asked some other players where to get them.
It seems you have not yet caught on to crafting, which is a shame, for this is one of the strong points in this game. And of course there are crafters quests. Another strong point would be playing a dragon, but you have chosen otherwise.
The noob isles are good for learning how to fight and for collecting lower tier resources. And thats it. Try to explore the world a little, visit Gregory the Darkstaff Scholar in Dalimond for some explorer quests and have a look at the building that goes on in the player towns... If you still want to get only adventurer quests visit the trophy hunters in the racial towns.
But in truth: If someone is neither into dragons or crafting or housebuilding there will be more suitable games abailable, no doubt.
I'm glad to read more tutorial content is being added. A few months ago I played the game for a free trial (5 days, I think) and while I found the game intruiging, I did spend far too much of that free trial time simply trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing and how to do it. Yes, some of the players I ran into were extremely helpful, but I don't like bothering players with a lot of "noob" questions. Whenever possible I try to figure out things on my own.
Quick, simple quests are a great way to introduce new players to various game mechanics and provide some rewards while doing it.
Even though I agree that some of the graphics could use a bit of improvement, they really weren't terrible and the game was enjoyable enough that they certainly weren't a deal breaker. This is coming from a total sucker for eye candy.
Someday I hope to come back to Horizons, but I just can't get my hubby's interest piqued and we do like to game as a team.
HEHE
You come here solely to post negatively about this game, right? That's the definition of a troll, homey. It ain't name calling, it's what you do.
And no, I won't ever be a troll. Even my most hated game, Lineage 2, which killed a part of my love for games, I commented once in the Lineage 2 section about and moved on. Trolls don't do that. They lurk under the bridge waiting for any post about the game and pounce, adding their negative rhetoric ad nauseam, ad infinitum.
The actual definition of a troll is someone who purposely cause anger within the forum. Ive read this post and everyone elses opinion and there is nothing wrong about it. Everyone have an opinion and they have every right to come here to tell about it. Whether it is positive or negative. I think the orignal post was very civilized about the review he made and makes alot of points that is worth discussion. That is actually what these forums are for.
The fact is you bashed someone who was making an opinion, obiviously negative for you, is a definition of trolling. Its a big time inflame when you bash someone. Thats why your post got deleted. You didnt see the orignal writters post deleted? Its also a fact that you did troll on this post. You were the one who came here solely to bash someone who was making his opinion.
Have played: CoH, DDO EQ2, FFXI, L2, HZ, SoR, and WW2 online
HEHE
You come here solely to post negatively about this game, right? That's the definition of a troll, homey. It ain't name calling, it's what you do.
And no, I won't ever be a troll. Even my most hated game, Lineage 2, which killed a part of my love for games, I commented once in the Lineage 2 section about and moved on. Trolls don't do that. They lurk under the bridge waiting for any post about the game and pounce, adding their negative rhetoric ad nauseam, ad infinitum.
The actual definition of a troll is someone who purposely cause anger within the forum. Ive read this post and everyone elses opinion and there is nothing wrong about it. Everyone have an opinion and they have every right to come here to tell about it. Whether it is positive or negative. I think the orignal post was very civilized about the review he made and makes alot of points that is worth discussion. That is actually what these forums are for.
The fact is you bashed someone who was making an opinion, obiviously negative for you, is a definition of trolling. Its a big time inflame when you bash someone. Thats why your post got deleted. You didnt see the orignal writters post deleted? Its also a fact that you did troll on this post. You were the one who came here solely to bash someone who was making his opinion.
No, I came to bash someone who came JUST to bash a game. I don't mind if someone expresses an opinion, that is exactly what these forums are for. When someone returns to a games forum to post negatively any time someone has something positive to say that is MY definition of trolling: repeated bashing of a game ad nauseam with only biased opinion and raw hatred to back up their points.
I don't care what your definition of a troll is, that's what a troll REALLY does. They keep bashing something for their own retarded reasons over and over and over, returning to step on anyones positive opinion of a game wherever they may pop up. Their main goal is to hurt the game they are bashing, not to merely cause anger. They want that game to die because they are stupid ineffectual little peons who have nothing good going on i their lives so they want to crap all over someone elses good time.
Thanks for comin' out.
Seems like there are new things happening over at Tulga which are not being reported on these sites. Tulga has interns working for free while they code the game. AROP is nearly finished and with the nerf to size of ancients it has made a lot of players quit over it. They are attempting to fix the stat issues that was also a nerf but it may be a little to late. Also there are rumors of devs jumping ship along with Chris T. the former owner of Tulga being gone. If you call Tulga you will notice Chris T. name has been removed. In fact there are only a very few names left. Don't be shocked if the listing gets even smaller very soon.
Just FYI.
I came to Horizons on the back of playing Diablo for 2-3 years, Ultima Online for 4 years, playing Star Wars Galaxies for 2 years and the Guild Wars
I looked for a new MMORPG
Tried Shadowbane - too PvP orientated but nice in small ways
And now Horizons
I made the mistake of registering with the USA version of the game even though I live in Europe - so it's a bit underpopulated when I start play of an evening
The graphic setting I have limit the game - looks good for MMORPG (not compared to GW but that is NOT a proper MMORPG as it's 'instanced' and this game isn't)
This game makes crafting more fun than UO - SWG never planned for it to be fun and succeeded in creating a 'dull bit' of the game for people that needed to collect/craft for others (I was multi-master craftsman on SWG)
The world is BIG - too big maybe for the people on it (why servers merged) - ooooo! one world!?!? if it's fantasy and BIG ONE that is good (even SWG and GW have empty places where you bump into no-one)
I like it - and would like to say this
IF the customer request I put forward is acted upon as was stated this is the NUMBER ONE Customer Service I have received from any compter-related company in 21 years or dealing with computers - juries out but if it goes as said it's awesome response time (8 minutes through email) and end result (hopefully what I asked for and didn't expect to get)
Stay Frosty
Dozer, weren't you banned?
If so, then creating a new handle to post is against the TOS.